UK politics: Starmer says Labour will not back plan to raise national insurance to fund social care – live

This morning the Today programme broadcast an interview about Boris Johnson’s plans for adult social care with the Conservative MP Jake Berry. Berry was far less critical than many of his colleagues have been; he made a point of saying three times that he congratulated Johnson for addressing the issue, and he said he personally was “not necessarily” totally opposed to the as-yet-unpublished plan. But he expressed strong reservations, and this will worry the PM because Berry used to be one of his strongest supporters in the Commons (before Johnson became PM).

More importantly, as chair of the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs, Berry is effectively the party’s levelling up watchdog – the person best placed to adjudicate on whether Johnson is keeping his promise to improve opportunities in the north.

Given that the main aim of Johnson’s policy is to stop people having to sell their homes to pay for their care, and that house prices are far higher in the south of England than in the north, it is not hard to see why Berry finds it problematic. In his interview he described raising national insurance as a “jobs tax”, and said it would be unfair in two ways.

First, it created regional unfairness, he argued. He told the programme:

And, second, because people above state pension age do not pay national insurance, even if they are still working, the plan created generational unfairness, Berry said. He explained:

Berry also said he was surprised to see Sajid Javid, the health secretary, backing the plan. Referring to his time as Northern Powerhouse minister, when he was entitled to attend cabinet, he said:

Berry said he thought it would be better to raise income tax, not national insurance, to raise funds for the social care system.

Good morning. I hope you all had a good summer.

The first week in September always tends to be a hectic time at Westminster. MPs return anxious to implement all the ideas they have been mulling over while on holiday, there is a stack of issues backed up because parliament has been in recess and the looming party conference season means the senior figures are under particular pressure to firm up some announcements.

This year the decision logjam seems more intense than ever: a whole set of problems needing ministerial attention have been on hold, not just over the summer, but since the start of the Covid pandemic. In his London Playbook briefing, Politico’s Alex Wickham has identified 18 serious issues that Boris Johnson needs to address, almost all of them with the potential to create a major crisis. And one of the biggest is the need to reform adult social care, which is set to be the story of the week. Johnson does not need reminding that the last prime minister to announce a plan to raise more money for social care never really recovered from the damage it did to her reputation with voters and her party.

As Jessica Elgot reports in her overnight story, Johnson is already facing a huge Tory backlash – over plans that have not even been announced yet.

Johnson has a working majority of more than 80, but that means that if just over 40 Conservatives vote with all the opposition parties he will lose and, reading the papers today and over the weekend, it feels as if that many Tories have already spoken out about Johnson’s plan to raise national insurance to make the system more generous so that pensioners do not have to sell their homes.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror this morning, the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, confirms that Johnson cannot rely on the main opposition party to bail him out. Starmer told the paper:

Starmer said it was “inevitable” that taxes would have to go up to address the social care crisis. “We need a fair way to raise the money that is needed,” he said. But he would not offer an alternative to the Johnson plan, insisting a decision was not needed until the party published its manifesto.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10am: Tony Blair, the former prime minister, gives a speech at the Rusi thinktank to mark the forthcoming 20th anniversary of 9/11.

11.30am: Downing Street holds its daily lobby briefing.

2.30pm: Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

After 3.30pm: Boris Johnson gives a statement to MPs about Afghanistan.

There may well be some Covid news covered here, but for more extensive coronavirus coverage, do read our global live blog.

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